In line with the positive trend since 2021, Antwerp also recorded good tourist figures for the past year, which indicate that the city remains an attractive destination for visitors. With 13.5 million day tourists in 2023, Antwerp recorded an increase of 16% compared to 2022. Stay-over tourism increased by 9% to 2.6 million overnight stays.

The increase in the number of day tourists occurs among visitors from our own country as well as visitors from abroad. According to mobile data, of the 13.5 million day tourists who visited Antwerp in 2023, 77% come from Belgium, 23% from abroad. This ratio has remained virtually unchanged compared to 2022.

Less Dutchies

The international day tourists mainly come from our neighboring countries. The Netherlands retains the largest share of international day tourists. While they represented 64% of all foreign tourists in 2022, their share now drops to 39%. 

In absolute numbers this is a decrease of 33%. In contrast, there has been a notable increase in day tourists from other neighboring countries. The number of visitors from Germany has almost doubled compared to last year, representing 11% of all foreign day tourists, followed by Spain (7.5%) and the United Kingdom (6.4%). It is striking that the absolute number of British visitors is 3.5 times higher than last year.

Stay-over tourism

The number of overnight stays continues to grow and has already exceeded the pre-pandemic figure since last year. According to the official figures from the FPS Economy, 2.6 million overnight stays were registered in 2023, which is 9% more than in 2022 and 21% more than in 2019. 

The origin of stay-over tourists shows the same ratio as last year, with more foreign ( 61.2%) than domestic tourists. The Dutch market was most strongly represented with 39.8%, followed by Germany (13.2%). France and the UK together make up the top 3 with 7.3%, and the return of tourists from the United States (4.2%) is clearly visible. 

The majority of overnight tourists come to Antwerp for a city trip. Of all stays, 64% can be attributed to leisure tourism, compared to 36% to business tourism. This ratio is the same as last year.

Thanks to the increase in stay-over tourism, the hotel room occupancy rate has almost reached the level of 70% (68.5%). Considering the expansion of the hotel offering in Antwerp since 2019, this is a great achievement. The average daily room price follows the economic conditions and amounts to 118.2 euros this year, 13.2 euros more than last year.

Didier Boehlen, chairman of the Antwerp Hotel Association: “Despite the significant growth in the accommodation offering in recent years, Antwerp hotels are slowly recovering from the post-covid trough, with an occupancy rate of just under 68.5%. This increase is mainly driven by a strong weekend occupancy of tourists from our neighboring countries.”

“Overall, recreational tourism in Antwerp continues to perform well, thanks to the attractive range of shops, attractions, museums and restaurants for visitors. Unfortunately, we have not yet managed to match the pre-Covid occupancy figures in 2019, when we reached an occupancy rate of 73%. The recovery of business tourism remains the biggest challenge for Antwerp. We do not expect individual business travelers to return in the same numbers as before.” 

“However, by attracting large-scale conferences and meetings, we hope to be able to compensate for these volumes. The work currently being done by the Antwerp Convention Bureau will play a crucial role in this.”

In addition to hotels, tourists are also increasingly opting for alternative accommodation options. Campsites are used more as a stopover by foreign tourists who stay one night, often with a visit to the historic city center. A total of 8,100 camping nights were booked this year (7,052 in 2020), with almost as many German (31%) as Belgian guests (32%).

Attractions and tours

Last year, the museums in Antwerp received more than 2.2 million visitors. The city museums welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors, which corresponds to the level before the corona period, despite the temporary closure of the Rubens House. 

The masterpieces exhibition in the Museum At the Stream (Museum Aan de Stroom, MAS) ‘Rare & Indispensable‘, for example, has attracted almost 50,000 spectators to date. The ratio between domestic and foreign visitors also seems to be returning to the situation before the pandemic: almost 70% of the visitors were Belgians.

As today’s crowd puller, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen, KMSKA) has received more than half a million (534,000) visitors last year, 135,000 of whom during the ‘Turning Heads‘ exhibition (20/10-31/12/2023). 

Other non-municipal museums, including M HKA, Snijders & Rockoxhuis and Museum De Reede, together recorded almost 180,000 visitors.

Holidays

The holiday periods were particularly successful for the museums. For example, the city museums attracted almost 40,000 visitors during the rainy Christmas holidays, and the KMSKA had an exceptionally busy Christmas period with 50,000 visitors.

The number of visitors to the monumental churches in Antwerp also increased by 36%, to a total of 610,650. Winter in Antwerp on the Hendrik Conscienceplein resulted in significantly more visitors to the Saint Charles Borromeo Church than in previous years.

In 2023, 8,640 group tours were booked, with the majority still booked by Belgians. However, there is a growing trend of foreign participants.

Antwerp’s attractions, such as the Zoo, Chocolate Nation or De Koninck Brewery, attracted more than 1.16 million visitors.

Visitor centers

The number of visitors to the tourist information desk in Het Steen has reached a record high of 462,683 this year, an increase of 55% compared to last year. Including visitors to the counter at Antwerp-Central Railway Station, the total number of visitors to the information desks is 582,135. In the Het Steen visitor center, approximately half of the visitors come from abroad (51%) and the other half from home (49%). It is striking that 12% of the total number of visitors come from Antwerp itself.

Alderman for Tourism Koen Kennis (N-VA): “This personally gives me great pleasure. Het Steen has remained closed to Antwerp residents for years. With the renovation and new purpose, we have returned the building to the citizens.”

The composition of nationalities in the Central Station visitor center shows a different picture. Here we see a larger share of international visitors (61%) than national visitors (39%). Dutch visitors make up the largest share at 13%, followed by Germany (8%) and France (7%).

The best-selling products in both visitor centers were the ATV Walking Rally and the Antwerp City Pass. Other popular products were postcards, Elixir d’Anvers, Louis d’Anvers marzipan and Antwerp Hands.

Cruising

Last year, the cruise market showed a strong recovery compared to the years when the pandemic paralyzed everything. Antwerp welcomed a total of 815 river cruises, carrying 123,644 passengers. With these numbers, the city has surpassed the 2019 figure by 8%.

As for sea cruises, the city received 23, accounting for 15,995 passengers. 25 sea cruises are expected by 2024, amounting to almost 20,000 passengers. With these figures, the city is achieving its intended objective.

MICE

Antwerp has seen an increase of 15.2% in overnight stays with MICE motives. MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences & events. 

This strengthens its position as a premium event destination. The first figures show that corporate events play a dominant role (96.5%), while associations or trade unions account for 3.5%. 

With Antwerp Convention Bureau‘s proactive approach, the further development of the association market offers a lot of potential. The largest share of participants for multi-day events who stay overnight in the city come from Belgium at 40%, followed by the Netherlands (14%), Germany (7%) and the United Kingdom (6%).

Events

Antwerp once again attracted a good number of events last year. One of the most notable events of this year was the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The World Championships took place at the Sportpaleis from September 30 to October 8 and brought together 400 gymnasts from 73 countries. 

This event marked an important moment for Antwerp, a decade after the last time it hosted the championships. 

Another important event, Antwerp XL, from November 28 to 30 at Antwerp Expo, was an important meeting point for professionals in the breakbulk and heavy transport sector. 

In addition, there was ITF World, organized on May 16 and 17 in the Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp. This event, initiated by Imec, brought together 2000 stakeholders. The focus was on the latest developments in semiconductors and deep technology solutions, with applications ranging from health and pharmaceuticals to automotive and AI.

These events emphasize Antwerp’s role as a dynamic and versatile host city for international meetings and conferences.

Tadeja Pivc-Coudyser, CEO of Antwerp Convention Bureau: “Events are more than an economic stimulus for Antwerp, they reflect our commitment to a thriving community, driven by knowledge and innovation. Organizing prestigious events not only emphasizes our hospitality, but also provides the opportunity to introduce Antwerp to investors and talented professionals who want to be part of it.” 

“MICE events not only have an impact on hotels and conference locations. An extensive ecosystem of different professionals is involved, ranging from IT specialists, graphic designers, website developers, to transporters, printers, translators and copywriters, florists, restaurateurs….”

Koen Kennis: “People come to Antwerp to have a nice day, to shop, to experience culture, to put their feet up, to do business, and they also combine these things. It is that versatility that makes us an attractive city. With our policy we do everything we can to highlight and promote that versatility.”

Outlook 2024

2024 also promises to be a full tourist year in Antwerp, including:

• the culinary event Smaakmeesters Deluxe from 12 February to 3 March,
• the awarding of the Michelin stars on 26 February,
• the start of the Tour of Flanders on 31 March,
• the Liberation Days on 7 and 8 September,
• from 28 September the Ensor Year in Antwerp,
• there will be Smaakmeesters again in October,
• in December Winter in Antwerp.

Comment: Less Dutchies? 

“The Netherlands retains the largest share of international day tourists. While they represented 64% of all foreign tourists in 2022, their share now drops to 39%.”

Really? We see another pictures. At work, we see how full the Roosendaal – Antwerp – Puurs train is full when the weekend comes and during vacation time. The Benelux train is also very full every day. 

On weekends, you hear more Dutch from the Netherlands than Dutch from Flanders. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch have really (re)discovered Antwerp.

So less Dutch visitors? We don’t buy it. How are day-trippers counted anyway?

On tourism

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• Antwerp hotel industry demands stricter rules and enforcement for Airbnb as business tourism is not recovering.
• ANTWERP | 2022 tourism statistics show recovery towards 2019 numbers.
• City happy with Winter in Antwerp 2022-2023 edition.
• City sees Winter in Antwerp 2023-2024 breaking attendance records.
• Belgians make 4.5 million day trips to Antwerp every year.
• ANTWERP | 2.2 million day tourists and 398K overnight stays in the summer of 2023.
• ANTWERP | 2 million day tourists and 337K overnight stays in the summer of 2022.
• Belgians travelled massively in the first quarter of 2022.
• The Major Flaws of domestic tourism in Belgium.
• Discovering Belgium and the Netherlands in COVID times.
• Will COVID-19 be the End of Business Class?.
• The world of travel and planning after coronavirus COVID-19.
• Balancing travel enthusiasm and the reality of the coronavirus crisis.
• Skam or being shamed for going outside.
• FLANDERS | Castles of the Scheldt.